That extended far beyond early stage employees. Hundreds of thousands of folks (nationwide) lost their jobs at established companies in the wake of that mess. I don't see how early stage employees faced any greater risk.
False. If you went to the east coast, people were largely unaffected by the dot-bomb in the valley. The most significant impact was seeing various stock market indexes drop, which hit people in the pocketbook, but it did not result in layoffs.